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James was born 1665 in Tullebardine, Scotland. The LDS ancestral file lists his father as John Murray, the Marquess of Atholl, and his mother as Jane McClean. Both of these people were descended from the Kings and Queens of Scotland, England, and much of Europe. The Morays or Murrays, of Tullebardine, were one of the most powerful of the Highland families of Scotland. The alleged connection to parents John Murray and Jane MacLean is not proven. The connection to Jane MacLean may have been a genealogical error based on his transactions with Hector Maclane in Maryland. Hector Maclane, however was not a relative on his mother's side, but rather the husband of one of James' wife's sisters. That, of course, does not preclude the possibility that his mother was also a MacLean, although no such record has surfaced.

According to "The Green Spring Valley" by Robert Barnes, James was "transported some time before 1676 by Nathaniel Heathcote in a ship commanded by one Captain Ely. In 1676 Heathcote assigned his land rights to George Yate for transporting Murray and others."

James' will on file in Baltimore City appears to be the only one bearing the wax impression of a coat of arms, which is "azure three stars argent, in middle chief a crescent or."[1] In addition to some of the estates mentioned elsewhere in this article, James' will mentioned land at "Garrison", as well as "Mecklean's Hopyard" (sic) purchased from Hector Machlane (sic), and an estate called "Julles Gileard" (300 acres).

James died in Baltimore County, Maryland in 1704. His widow, Jemima Morgan, married Thomas Cromwell, a Quaker and one of the executors of his estate, were married about 1705 in West River, Ann Arundel, Maryland. James also noted the Quaker community in his will as trustees ("Maryland Genealogies, p.344).